I’ve been a fan of the Child’s Play series since I watched the first two films on VHS in the early 90’s. Chucky has become an icon of slasher horror and gone through a number of iterations. Despite these variances, he has a distinct personality, given life by the excellent Brad Dourif and the creative drive of Don Mancini. Being so tied to an actor and creative team the idea of a reboot has caused a lot of controversy. Also, updating a similarly distinct character met with less than stellar results in the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street in 2010. So it’s no wonder many people were sceptical about this remake.

A single mother (Aubrey Plaza) acquires a sort after toy, the interactive Buddi doll, through iffy channels for her son, Andy (Gabriel Bateman). Despite some glitches Andy and the Doll, Chucky (voiced by Mark Hamill) form a bond. However, during the manufacturing process all of Chucky’s inhibitors were removed. This results in deadly consequences for anyone deemed a threat to Andy or their friendship.

While this is a remake of the 1988 supernatural slasher, it moves away from what has gone before, doing something different and modern. Released during the peak of the satanic panic and fear of dark religious practices, for the original to have a practitioner of voodoo as the villain made completed sense. This doesn’t carry the same weight or social fear factor today and would be hockey. So the creative impulse to make the 21st century Chucky a malfunctioning interactive doll is spot on. The film plays like an episode of Black Mirror, a morality tale about taking for granted the technology we invite into our homes.

More than a fear of technology tale, I really enjoyed the film as a twisted take on old favourites Toy Story and ET.

Its pure coincidence but to have both the boy in Toy Story and Chucky be named Andy provides a nice nod to the Pixar series. Films in which toys go to extreme lengths to stay with their human owner. Those sweet, loving characters that you let into your home, grow up with and share so many experiences. Chucky plays like an extreme version of Woody. Protecting his position as the favourite toy and Andy’s best friend.

Even more so is the notion of having that special friend that grownups don’t know about. Hiding E.T. and his antics are played for laughs and touching drama in 1982. In Child’s Play 2019, acts of misunderstanding are played initially for laughs and quickly develop into horror, as the acts become more violent and obsessive. Chucky even has a glowing finger in this new version, which I couldn’t help but think of E.T. and I’m digging all this.

The first half the film builds up the core relationship and the notion that Chucky just wants to be loved and make Andy happy. There is a wonderful moment following one of the first acts of violence when Chucky’s sat on Andy’s bed, sad and apologetic for his behaviour. It’s a great moment that highlights to the audience that he isn’t evil form the outset but he is on a path to evil. They have given him a child like personality and desire to do what he thinks is best, that’s hard not to sympathise with, at least in the beginning.

None of this would work if Chucky didn’t work. The design and special effects team have done a fantastic job. They maintain the look of a toy even as he becomes more and more aggressive. He remains a bit jerky and robotic throughout. It’s clear GCI is used to enhance several scenes but the practical Chucky is so effective and gives the horror tactile weight.

I mentioned before how Brad Dourif is so important to what makes the original so great. This new version also has the benefit of a great voice actor, Mark Hamill. Hamill brings a performance loaded with both pathos and menace. He never goes full joker, choosing to go lighter which is much creepier.

On top of all this, the horror is well paced and suitably gory. The kills are fun and it all leads to a predictable but enjoyable finale. Overall, this is a successful remake, updating the concept and characters to be relevant, scary and fun for a new century. I’m looking forward for the original Chucky TV show, but I also really hoping we get more Buddi Chucky in the future.

It’s the same old story. Childless couple find a baby in a crashed space ship. Raise him with a good moral compass, directing him to use his growing powers for the good of the world. Eventually the child grows up to become a super powered beacon of hope and compassion. If you’ve heard of Superman it’s a pretty certain you know this story.

DC Comics understand that this is the foundation of their whole universe and have applied variances of it over the decades: The spaceship crashed in Soviet Russia, Britain or even Gotham, always leading to a slight shift of the result. These Else World stories very in quality but I do enjoy the idea of shifting something and seeing how it plays out. Brightburn is another shift of this same story and leans into the Horror of what a super powered being could really do. It should be a terrifying event. Unfortunately, Brightburn falls far short of its potential.

As a Horror film, Brightburn is okay. The scares are fine and the gore effects are well done. There is little to complain about in the third act from a surface level. It’s just very by the numbers and rote.

Its takes a question “What if Superman grew up evil?” and runs with it but not very far. The problem is they don’t try and answer any questions satisfactorily beyond this, like “Why would a young superman become evil?” or “How would he become evil?” The movie provides an easy answer to all of them and it all boils back to … the evil spaceship made me do it.

When we meet the Breyer Family, they’re an average American family, Mum (Elizabeth Banks) and Dad (David Denman), raising a reasonably good but slightly outcast son, Brandon (Jackson Dunn). However, when Brandon, turns 12 the ship he arrived in activates and starts feeding him information. Within days, he is a full-blown supervillain. It runs from A to B and doesn’t care about making the journey interesting.

The film could have explored the transition. How a 12 year old deals with a devil on his shoulder telling him what he can do with him power, that he’s better than the Humans around him. How does this interfere with the morals that have been instilled in him for 12 years? Is this a slippery slope, starting with doing a couple of wrong things for the right reason? Is the power addictive to a kid that has been bullied? How does an adopted child and outcast deal with learning about his birth parents being from another world? This could and should have led to any number of tipping points that push the boy into taking his anger out on the world. Unfortunately, none of these are explored in any real depth. The filmmakers are more interested in getting him in a creepy costume and playing out evil superman fantasies.

With the Marvel Cinematic Universe pushing the boundaries of Superhero movies, and with such a wealth of history exploring these themes, this film had an obligation to be better. By providing more exploration of these issues, building up a struggle between using his powers for good and evil, the eventual fall to evil would have delivered a much more powerful gut punch. What we get is a mildly stroppy 12 year old sociopath being a sociopath, which it turns out isn’t very interesting.

You only get so many chances at doing something different from the mainstream in Hollywood. If you don’t get it right the chances of being able to do it again dwindle pretty quick. Brightburn is a massive missed opportunity to produce not just an inventive horror movie but also a breakdown of the modern superhero myth.

Going to see a Godzilla movie is like going to a wrestling event. You go to see the fights and hope that the stories and promos are entertaining enough to fill the gaps. In a Godzilla movie, this time between fights is time spent with the human characters, and it can make or break the movie. Toho tried a number of different things over the decades, satire, melodrama and wacky sci-fi. Some were more successful than others.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (GKotM) is no different; it’s split between two elements, the human story and the Monster action. Unfortunately, how bad one part is in this film starts to taint the other.

In GKotM you spend a lot of time with the human characters and this becomes a real problem. Why? Because they’re either boring, irritating or head scathingly stupid. The plot of the film hinges on a single scene in which a character lays out why they have instigated the events that will lead to the titular monsters running amok all over the world, killing hundreds of thousands of people. If this scene doesn’t work for you, you are best ignoring the rest of the plot and just enjoying the visuals.

In the recent Avengers films, Thanos laid out a justification for his actions that could, at a stretch, be related to. His methods were extreme and inhuman but there was a nugget of cold dark logic in there based on experience and a twisted common sense. GKotM tries for something similar but misses the logic and justification to such an extent that I disengaged from the human story for the rest of the film.

They even attempt to give the character a small redemption at the end. However, all they are doing is reducing the effect of their ridiculous plan from global devastation to global catastrophe. They are still responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and the end of a way of life forever.

The story telling fumbles don’t stop there. The hero team of the movie are no better. They stumble from one event to another adding little to no value. They witness an event and then move on to the next one in an action packed way. They exist only to be the human part of action scenes and serve up exposition and huge leaps in logic, and I mean huge. They establish that Gidorah is an alien because he is missing from historical text, other than a single reference to a beast that fell from the stars. This is information is presented as some earth shattering reveal and informs most of the third act, but all it does it provide further proof of how stupid the instigating plan is and that they should really have better researchers. It’s Prometheus level bad science.

Ok, that’s not why you’re here, but about the King and his court? The Monster action is mostly solid. The creature designs are spot on and the excellent effects give them weight, so that each fight feels devastating. One of the outstanding achievements of this film is that each of the primary monsters is given a personality. Rodan and Mothra in particular have several moments that showed real thought had been given into how these creatures interact and how they are different. For me, these two stand out as more interesting than the main event.

The fights themselves again are mostly good. There are moments when the titanic creatures colliding looks beautiful. The composition and colour of the shots have been used to great effect in the advertising. They also build up the powers of each monster at a steady pace. Although they do rely on the OMG! Godzilla is almost dead, oh no he isn’t moment one time to many for my liking.

The biggest issue is a new power given to King Gidorah. He now has a powerful storm follow him around where ever he goes. An interesting story beat but it then means that every scene between him and Godzilla is dark and streaked with rain. They look grey and drab and as well as adding so much dark movement to the shot that there are moments when it’s not clear what’s going on at all.

At its best Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a big, loud and visually stunning Monster Battle Royale. The monsters are well established and fun to see them interact with the modern world. Unfortunately, the rest is one bum note after another. At over two hours long, the film was a bit of a drag to get through but ends with a knockdown, drag out fight that will get the heart pumping, its just not enough to get me excited for what else they have to offer from the Monster-verse.

2019 is the year of creepy killer dolls. The mayhem kicks on June 21st with the remake of Child’s Play and is quickly followed by Annabelle Comes Home in July 12th and Brahms: The Boy 2 on September 13th. So to celebrate the Summer of tantruming toys here are our 5 favourite killer doll movies that you should check out.

Child’s Play (1988) – Not the earliest film on this list but by far it gave the world the best killer doll in the snarky and psychotic Chucky. The film is played mostly for straight horror but the brilliant voice performance by Brad Dourif elevates the film and allows the viewer to see past some moments of slightly iffy special effects. Don Mancini and Tom Holland lean into the Freddy Kruger style of slasher killer and bring an abundance of personality. Each other entry in the series brings something new but this first entry is a classic and should be checked out before the remake hits cinemas.

Dolls (1987) – This is such an underrated movie. It’s not going to win any awards but it is so much horror fun. A group of strangers end up trapped in an old couple’s house during a storm. During the night they are attacked by a host of dolls created by the couple. This taps into fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel and Pinocchio with a moralistic twist ending. The special effects aren’t always strong but they are in line with the B-Movie feel. This is a great one to share with friends over a couple of beers.

Annabelle: Creation (2017) – Introduced as an Easter egg in the first Conjuring Movie Annabelle has become a cornerstone of the Conjuring universe. The first movie is rote and lacks the punch of The Conjuring. Luckily they gave the possessed doll another shot with Annabelle: Creation. The film jumps back in time and provides an origin story for the demon dolly. This could have been a disaster but while the script and set up are nothing special, the film delivers on tension and scares with some excellent performances from Lulu Wilson and Talitha Bateman. Also director David F. Sandberg treats the material with seriousness, giving the scares weight and impact. This is a truly creepy movie that will make you look twice at the doll that has sat quietly in the corner all these years.

Dead Silence (2007) – A murder mystery and ghost story thrown together by the modern horror master James Wan. The film builds up at a solid pace with some fun jump scares, climaxing in an eerie and fun finale. The reason that this is additionally creepy is that the dolls in the film are ventriloquist dummies, which are given life and personality for our entertainment. So for they already have a sinister edge. The film plays like an adult Goosebumps story; it has its creepiness but also plays out with an open(ish) ending that leaves that tingle in your spine.

Trilogy of Terror (1975) – Part of a movie of the week anthology, each of which stared the horror iconic Karen Black. In the third segment Black’s character has acquired a small wooden doll idol, which an accompanying scroll claims contains the spirit of a killer Zuni warrior. This dangerous spirit is kept in check by a chain locked around its neck. However, once the chain is accidently broken the little warrior goes on the attack. This film really benefits from being an anthology as each segment is short enough to move at a crazy pace and is packed full of horror action.

In recent years we have had Horror and Thriller movies that have elevated themselves above the many tropes and clichés of the genres. The Babadook, The Witch and Hereditary have all challenged viewers in different ways. The Perfection wants to join these movies in pushing the boundaries of the genres and viewing expectations. Unfortunately, it’s not as clever as it thinks it is and falls short of the mark. Netflix are trying to give audience to some genre movies that would have fallen by the wayside otherwise which I applaud and their choices are getting better.

It’s a story of trauma and obsession but I can’t explore this more without giving any spoilers. So I won’t be covering the plot at all. Having said that I will say, this film that doesn’t require repeat viewing. Once you know what is coming it loses its impact. There are no hidden layers to find, it’s pretty much laid bare when the credits role. That’s not to say it doesn’t leave questions, just not in a good way.

The story is very twisty and takes several unexpected turns, which kept me engaged and guessing. The use of non-linear storytelling and presenting the scenes from different perspective is will handles and makes for more interesting viewing. If this story had been told in a simple linear way, it would have been a much flatter experience.

The problem comes when you get the reveal and it all falls in to place, or to pieces. The decisions made, now seem excessive and the actual likelihood of them working out in the way they have is slim at best. Even the resolution is a head scratcher in the world that has been set up. The characters involved have a level of fame and celebrity that would invite questions following the credits, not a satisfying resolution.

Performances are strong across the board, Allison Williams in particular has the ability to project an array of emotions and thoughts through simple facial tics and quirks. I have enjoyed her in most everything she has done and look forward to what she does next. She also shares a spark with Logan Browning in the first two acts that makes the escalation of events more horrific and impactful. Unfortunately, like other things this falls apart at the end and where they felt natural before, the chemistry feels awkward and forced. It’s such a shame to have wasted what was built up in the first hour.

In addition to the performances, the cinematography is stunning. The City locations are beautiful and the framing of characters during key scenes is striking. Even when things get gross (and they get gross!), there is clear thought to the composition of the shot. This does elevate the performances and when and the impact of some of the reveals.

For a film about music, the score is a bit rote. The overplay of classical music is nice and the music itself is lovely. However, I think it was missed opportunity to do something interesting and new with it. If you want to present musicians at the top of their skill and creative ability, the music should reflect this. Moreover, the use of music falls apart at the very end and the music used is so out of place for the characters, scene and situation.

In summary, The Perfection is an enjoyable thriller that will keep you guessing right up to the end. The cast are great and deliver some truly shocking moments. However, it misses a few notes at the end spiralling into a mess, which will leave the viewer questioning. As a Netflix Original Movie (or exclusive release) this is more engaging than the disappointing Velvet Buzzsaw and better told than the bland Birdbox but is still not hitting the mark. There are things here to appreciate but not enough to keep me excited for what Netflix do next.

Biopics usually fall into two categories. Those that are determined to present the historical events in as much cinematic detail as possible and those that are more interested in presenting the essence of the person at the heart of the biography. ‘Rocketman’ falls firmly in the second category.

The film chronicles the growth of Reginald Dwight from a young boy in 1950’s Britain, through his development as performer, Elton John, in the 60’s and 70’s, to his breaking point and sobriety in the early 80’s.

Walking out the cinema I felt I knew more about the personal journey from Reggie Dwight to Elton Hercules John, but was still a bit hazy on the order of events and timescales that resulted in his success and downfall. If you go into this to see sordid details of the exploits and behind the scenes details of one of the most successful musical acts of all time, you’ll be disappointed. That isn’t to say that it doesn’t explore the darker side of the business and success, it just does it in a more fantastical and theatrical way. This is a strength and weakness of the movie.

The story jumps from one milestone moment to another, often in quick succession. Hammering home how Elton is feeling and how the events are shaping him. These leaps in story compress the timescales and leave the view guessing how long has passed. The other issue I had with these leaps is the inconsistency in how they were transitioned.

Some are done with a simple edit to a new scene, others are handled with more flair during a musical number or a fantasy delusion. The latter work much better, especially when we are experiencing the confusion and dizziness of the drug haze of the late 70’s. There are several slightly fourth wall breaking transitions in which Elton moves from one location or moment in time to another by moving through a door (or is literally rocketed off a stage on to new scene) to a new costume and scene and Elton starts the new scene confused, acknowledging the speed and disjointed move from one time and place to another. Nicely establishing his state of mind during this period.

That is the true strength of this film. It provides an excellent insight into a man that is looking to be loved, constantly denying himself and hiding behind his success. This is a story for anyone that has looked in the mirror and not recognised the person looking back at them. There is an expectation that the performer on stage is the person that exists between curtain calls. For someone so flamboyant as Elton John, it should come as no surprise that the big shoes, crazy glasses and elaborate costumes are just the armour and façade of a sad clown.

This struggle and inner turmoil are delivered excellently by the films Elton John, Taron Egerton. Egerton is excellent and carries the film in both the dramatic moments and the musical numbers, which are best when they go full Broadway. The fact that he sings the songs himself doesn’t hurt. While it won’t be for this movie, I’m convinced that Taron Egerton has an Oscar in his future.

The rest of the cast are more uneven. Jamie Bell is solid as writing partner Bernie Taupin. His relationship with Egerton’s Elton is sweet and heartfelt, acting as the anchor for the second act. Unfortunately, some of the others appear to be in a different film. Richard Madden plays John Reid as a moustache twirling villain who is slimy and intrust worthy from the moment his appears on screen. The same goes for Bryce Dallas Howard who delivers one of her most uneven performances ever. Both form key relationships and emotional touchstones for the film but are undercut by hammer performances.

Overall, the film is uneven with inconsistent editing choices and performances. However, at its core the story of Elton John and his journey to success and breakdown is elevated by its central performance, some excellent musical numbers and moments of flair and invention that kept me interesting. I don’t think it will generate any Oscar buzz like other biopics but it will make you reappraise the songs of Elton John and ask yourself if you are being the person you really want to be.